Electric-lamp socket.



F. P. GATES & G. A. GAUTHIER.

ELECTRIC LAMP SOCKET.

' APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23. I9I5.

171 QS, Patented Nov. 9, T915.

f Liconsa.

.and GEORGE A. GAUTHIER, both citizens of ED STATESPATENT ermee.

i ERE'DERIC I. GATES AND GEORGE A. GAUTHIER, or HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT,

' AssIeNoRs To THE ARROW ELECTRIC COMPANY, 0E HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT,

A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

ELECTRIC-LAMP SOCKET.

To aiZZy whom/[if may Concern.l`

Beit known that we, FREDERIC P. GATES :the United States of America, Vand both residing atHartford, in the county of Hartford andState of Connecticut, have invented a Icertain new and useful Improvement 1n Electric-Lamp Sockets, of. which the followf ing isa specification.

Our invention relates' to electrlc lamp sockets and particularly to lock sockets, the object of our invention being to provide a socket havingthe improvements hereinafter described and shown inth'e accompanying drawings in which, y

*Figure 1 is a broken"vertical sectlon throughja lamp socket vin which our invention is embodied in illustrative form; Fig.

2 is a partial vertical section showing ,the

screw plug in its innermost position; Fig. 3

is a partial vertical section `showing the end l of the key-in position to engage'the locking screw -to retract the latter; Fig. Liis a detached perspective of portion of the socket shell and the detachable thimble whih carries the locking screw; Fig. .5 is a partial y section showingv the base flangof4 the thimble in adjusted position in the shell and a partial broken section of the insulating linshell; and Fig. 6 vis 'a perspective of the locking as the latter is being-adjusted in the I ing plate.

The locking socket here shownis of the general type disclosedin-the patent to Nero-v 1,131;541 March 9, 1915. It comprises, as in thatconstruction, a easing having a cap 10 1- and shell-11 withinV which the insulating l body v12 of the socket is supported. 4The usual lamp terminals are carried by the latter, only the shell terminal 13 being here shown, insulated by the lining 414:' from the surrounding casing. At the point 15 the f shell 13 is apertured vto permitthe passage therethrough of the locking plate, 16, the free end-of which lies in register with the hole 15in the/screw shell. In thepresent construction the locking plate 16 is provided `with a foot piece underlying the base of the shell 13 and secured in position by v Speccation of Letters Patent.

ing'the several parts together. The f oot 17 is preferably vseated in a shallow recess 20 in the porcelain,-the sides lof the foot 17 engaging the sides of the recess and thus beingrestrained from` any tendency to swivel which may result from the engagement of the free end of the locking plate with the inserted base 21 of a lamp as the latter is screwed into or unscrewed from inserted position.- To engage the lampbase Aand afford a firm grip'thereon, the free end of the locking plate 16 is preferably providedwith inwardly struckv wings 22. The edges of these arey made relatively keen by imparting a bevel tothe punch by means of which the locking plate is struck from its blank, with the result that a blank is drawn at the two edges 22 before it is cut. The sharp edge of the die cuts through the metal at an angle to the surface ofthe latter, thus producing keen edges for the wings 22.

In the construction heretofore employed, the screw plunger 23 is threaded into a thimble soldered permanently to the shell'll of the casing. It sometimes happens however that the casing 11 must be refinished and this becomes a diiicult matter where the thimble is rigid with the casing since it interferes With the burnishing operation as the casing is spun. To avoid this difiiculty, the presentlthimble'24 is made readily detachable from the casing. and is. held in place onlyl by the pressure of the insulating lining 14 against the base ange 25 of the thimble. The latter is held Vagainst rotation by a hexagonal shoulder 26 formed thereon adjacent kthe base -flange 25 .and taking into a corresponding hexagonal aperture 27 in the cas- 1ng -11. Obviously it is. only necessary to pass the thimble 24'up Within the interior Patented Nov. 9,1915..

Application ledFebruary 23, 1915. Serial No. 9,910.

the latterv isv engaged by .the hexagonalv shoulder 26, to assemblevthe thimble on the sible to screw' the plug 23 of the screw.

casing.' The insertion of the insulating lining 14 which fits snugly within the shell 11, prevents the thimble from becoming loose and holds the hexagonal shoulder 26 in en-v gagement with the aperture 27 inthe shell. Gbviously it is only necessary to press the .thimble inward, after the lining 14 has been removed in order to remove it and thus prepare thecasing for refinishing. To facilitatel the introduction 'of the lining 14, the base flange 25 of the thimble is .extended upward to form a tongue 2 8 which is outwardly flared tooverlie the shoulder` 29 of. the shell. The outer end of the lining 14 being of less diameter than the shell above the shoulder 29, it4 engages on the rounded inner' face of the tongue 23 and slides down freely within the flange 25 without danger of catching on the edge of the latter and pulling the thimble out of the hole 27 in the casing.

In the prior Nero construction it was posin by means of its key until it had escaped the threads of the thimble 24. This not only resulted in the inconvenience through the separation of the parts, but also in injury to the locking -plate since the latter was thereby bent to such an extent that it did not return under its own resiliency to its normal position. These troubles have now been obviated by providing the key 30 with. the stud. 31, .carrying a pin 32 which engagesin a cam slot 33 in the shell of the key.l Whenthe key is turned to the right to screwthe plug 23 inward, the stud 31 whichl engages the screw 23 is retracted by the pin 32 until only'a sufficient length thereof protrudes beyond the shell 30 to permit .th'e screw 23 to be turned in a suitable distance to move the locking plate 16 into firm engagement with the' base 21 of ythe lamp. When the screw 23 has reachedfthis position, a further rotation .of the key merely results in the withdrawal of the head 34 of the screw from-its socket 35 in the-stud 31, by reason ofthe engagement of 'the shell of the key 30 with the end of -the thimble 24 and the engagement between the .key and the screwxis thus broken.- In order to withdrawthescrew 23,` the key 30 is rotated in the opposite direction with the result that the stud 31 v is extruded by lthe running of the pin 32 into the vouter .end of the slot 33. Consequently the lengthened stud 31 may be passed in to the thimble 24 a sufliicient distance to again bring the socket 35 into engagement with the head 34 l Further' reverse 'rotation of the key results in the withdrawal Iof the screw23 in the usual manner.

, Itfis obvious that with the present construction it is impossible to rotate screw 23 inwardly beyond the predetermined distance at which its engagement with the opin assembled position with l register era-ting key i. is broken. Nevertheless, the

comprisingv al shell ,provided with a non-Acir-l cular aperture, an internallyv threaded thimble provided with a base flange and having adjacent the latter a non-circular portion ladapted to fit within the aperture in the casing shell, together with an insulating lining for said casing bearing upon the base flange of said thimble to hold the latter l` relation to the shell. h

2. An electric lamp socket having acasing comprising a' shell having intermediate its ends a shoulder 2,9, and apertured adjacent its `lamp-receiving end, in combination with an internally threaded thimble adapted to be seated in said aperture and -havin-g a base ange lying within ,said shell, said'.

flange having an outwardly flared extension 28 overlying sembled position of the parts,

together` with an insulatinglining for said casing serving to hold said-fth-ianbleiin assembled position in the shell. y v 3. lIn a lamp socket, an apertured screw shell, a locking platefha'ving its free -end `in with the aperture in said screw shell,`a thimble carried by the socket casing, ya screw threadedinto said thimble in register with the free end of said locking plate,'together with a keyV for advancing said screw through its thimble, andmeans for breaking the operating connection between said key and screw after the latter has been advanceda predetermined distance.` 4. In a lamp socket, an apertured screw shell, a locking plate having its free end in register with the aperture in said screw shell, a thimble carried by the socket casing, a screw threaded into said thimble in register with the .free end of said locking plate, together with a key for advancing tweensaid key and screw, after the latter has been advanced a predetermined distance, together with means operative to reestablish the engagement between `said key and'screw upon the reverse rotation. of the keyi'to withdraw said screw: f

said shoulder I29 in the asy `said screw through itsthimble, and meansv for breaking the operating lconnection* be- 5. An .electr-icl'lampy socket comprising a i 

